. . . [Liszt's orchestral poem "Les Préludes" is] most opulently coloured and dispatched. The strings especially have a velvet sheen: partly the result of the hall's acoustic, partly because it's Barenboim conducting -- a man who seems to make every work, of any period, sound luxuriantly romantic. The brass ride out Liszt's main theme with exemplary force and plenitude. Golden harps ripple away. Lovely . . . [Berlioz]: Barenboim's lyrical instincts come to the fore, resulting . . . [in] plenty of beauty . . . Barenboim's gifts for shaping paragraphs and timing effects serve him well in the "Witches' Sabbath" finale, crowned with a tolling bell that raises the hair on your neck even listening at home . . . nothing shakes their commitment and passion.

Record Review /
Geoff Brown,
The Times (London) / 19. July 2013

If Daniel Barenboim's West-Eastern Divan Orchestra required an illustration of its broad scope and open spirit, it would be hard to imagine any more flamboyant than Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, the grandiloquent orgiastic fantasy of depravity . . . it's subtly but enthusiastically rendered here . . .

Record Review /
Andy Gill,
Independent (London) / 20. July 2013

Finesse and vibrant imagination coalesce in the Berlioz, a work . . . which comes across here with freshness and astute dramatic impulse. Liszt's symphonic poem is thrillingly, sumptuously, lucidly and lovingly articulated, its colours gleaming, its passions yearning and its sensibilities fine-tuned.

. . . [these lively performances] are well worth returning to. The Israeli conductor's Berlioz experience shows in this considered and beautifully played account of the composer's masterly programmatic symphony of a romantic poet's dreams, reveries and nightmares. The solo winds are notable in both works, especially in the central slow section of the once popular, now neglected Liszt tone poem. A souvenir of an evidently enjoyable concert.

Record Review /
Hugh Canning,
The Times (London) / 25. August 2013

. . . [this recording] has the perceptible atmosphere of a live occasion, the young musicians of the West-Eastern Divan reacting alertly and unanimously to Barenboim's sense of the music's character and expressive contours. The scene-setting in the opening "Rêveries -- Passions" is crafted with finesse and vigour, Barenboim shaping the violin line with a natural feel for its give and take. Similarly, the crucial slowing down at the apex of the melody in "Un bal" is done without fuss. There is plenty of instrumental detail here, as befits any performance of Berlioz . . . The dramatic impulse throughout the symphony is secure and Barenboim certainly knows how to whip up a macabre, menacing fantasy in the "Songe d'une nuit du Sabbat". Liszt's "Les préludes" makes for a well-chosen, complementary companion piece, played here with richness of texture, a discerning grip on its grandeur and an affectionate embrace of its lyrical allure.

The performance of Berlioz's "Symphonie fantastique" . . . is remarkable for Barenboims's circle-squaring ability to conjure near-fabulous vividness and excitement without a trace of exaggeration. From the opening phrase's swift beginning and lingering rallentando (perfectly judged), Berlioz's over-performed symphony is revealed as the groundbreaking masterpiece it is, with incisive élan in the first and second movements, and detail beautifully presented without point-making. The "Scene in the countryside" so often feels too long, but not with this level of music-making (the long clarinet solo is exquisitely played) . . . [the tendency of Liszt's "Les preludes"] to bombast is brilliantly subverted by the orchestra's bass section: with articulation as precise as this, they achieve thrilling results without any excessive loudness, so that the scoring balances itself unerringly, and the music sings and surges with wonderful freedom and freshness.

About the Album

Breath-taking brilliance: Barenboim’s Berlioz

Daniel Barenboim’s gripping 2009 Proms performance of the Symphonie fantastique released on Decca

Daniel Barenboim’s close association with Decca continues with the release of a landmark album of works by Hector Berlioz and Franz Liszt. The new recording is guaranteed to attract worldwide attention, thanks not least to the recent best-selling success of the conductor and pianist’s five-album Beethoven for All project and broad popular and media interest in his extraordinary work with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. Maestro Barenboim’s global profile was boosted in 2012 by his appearance at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. He came to the BBC Proms three summers earlier with his West-Eastern Divan Orchestra to perform two romantic masterworks: Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique and Liszt’s Les préludes. The concert marked the orchestra’s tenth anniversary in fine style. It also projected the virtuosity and musicianship of its members and the life-enhancing power generated by an ensemble of young players from one of the world’s most troubled regions.

The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra’s 2009 BBC Proms programme reconnected with Weimar, where Liszt had once served as the local Grand Duke’s director of music. Liszt was also an ardent champion of Berlioz’s music. The two men first met in Paris the night before the premiere of the Symphonie fantastique in 1830. Liszt was so inspired by what he heard that he made a piano transcription of his French friend’s composition. Both men shared wild character qualities and frequently explored them in their work. “We felt a keen sympathy for each other,” wrote Berlioz about their first meeting, “and since then our relationship has only become closer and stronger.” The Symphonie fantastique and Les préludes, first performed in 1857, are both inspired by literary programmes, Berlioz’s score by his own tale of a drug-induced dream, Liszt’s by Alphonse de Lamartine’s Nouvelles méditations poétiques.

“Barenboim conspicuously sets these musicians the hardest challenges,” observed the Guardian in its review of the 2009 Proms concert. “They attacked the largest of the evening, Berlioz’s wildly virtuosic Symphonie fantastique, with commitment, giving an interpretation studded with individual highlights and maintaining a breath-taking brilliance.”